LOS ANGELES — Alijah Arenas struggled in his long-awaited debut for USC on Wednesday night against Northwestern after completing his recovery from a knee injury he sustained last summer following his recovery from a car crash last spring.
Arenas had eight points in a 74-68 loss to the Wildcats as the Trojans fell to 14-5, 3-5 in the Big Ten. He played 29 minutes but shot just 3-for-15 from the field, including 0-for-6 on 3-pointers. He struggled at the free throw line with a 2-for-6 effort. He also had two rebounds and two assists.
The freshman guard’s debut came one month after his return to practice for the Trojans.
“It was great to have him back with the rest of the guys,” coach Eric Musselman said last month following Arenas’ first practice. “He’s got such a great basketball IQ and brings a tremendous amount of energy. It looked like he had been a part of practice for quite some time.”
Arenas, the son of former NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas, was involved in a car crash that led to him being put into an induced coma in April because of smoke inhalation. He spent six days in the hospital following the single-car crash in which he hit a tree but didn’t suffer other major injuries.
Arenas was ready to practice following the car crash when he needed surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.
The 6-foot-6 Arenas was a McDonald’s All American and five-star recruit from Chatsworth (California) High School whose debut was highly anticipated.
